Chapter 1012
Mad Deer
After coming over for a pleasant meal, the Lord of Scales and Feathers disappeared without a sound.
It is said that he is always like this.
As the founder of the two extraordinary professions of Hunter and Assassin, the Lord of Scales and Feathers is the most excellent stealth expert in the world. At least in the Dream Realm, he can appear anywhere at any time, appearing quietly in a completely sealed space like a moth – not by crossing the door, but by “already being inside from the very beginning.”
Unfortunately, those warriors had already forgotten that the Lord of Scales and Feathers had ever been there.
When the Lord of Scales and Feathers left, he casually stole their “selves in memory.” In their recollections, the Lord of Scales and Feathers had not appeared at all throughout the banquet.
After eating and drinking their fill, the Shadow Heavenly Envoy began selecting tonight’s lucky warriors.
Amidst the clamor of sighs and congratulations, the three warriors who had dined with her were naturally chosen as tonight’s lucky ones.
However, before enjoying her evening, the Shadow Heavenly Envoy sent Eivass and Arsen outside the castle.
She stood under a tree and then placed both Eivass and Arsen on the treetops. This way, their heads were almost at the same height.
Viness transformed back into her travel form, becoming a crow and perching on the antlers atop Eivass’s head. Those antlers had already become large enough, resembling tree branches, perfectly suitable for a crow to rest upon.
While waiting for the Moon Deer, Arsen, out of curiosity, asked Eivass and the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, “What kind of deer is the Moon Deer?”
This seemed to be common knowledge in the Dream Realm.
At least when Eivass and the Shadow Heavenly Envoy spoke, they were both very natural and showed no doubts or need for explanation. This caused Arsen to swallow his questions back down.
As a phantom thief who valued his reputation, he could not accept showing his ignorance in front of everyone.
Now that only gods and acquaintances were present, in an environment where secrets were well-kept, he finally spoke up and asked seriously, “Is it some kind of public transportation in the Dream Realm?”
“You could say that,” the Shadow Heavenly Envoy replied with a hearty laugh. “You’ll understand once you ride it.”
Eivass, however, summarized it concisely as: “A mad deer.”
“Mad…?”
“That’s right.”
Eivass glanced back at Arsen and patiently explained to the phantom thief, who had not received a good education, “In Elven Language, the root of the word ‘mad’ is the moon, and the original meaning of ‘madman’ was ‘one who returns to the moon.’ It also carries the meaning of a sleepwalker. This is because, in the beginning, people would want to go to the moon when they went mad.
“If people sleep under the moonlight, they are prone to going mad upon waking up. And the brighter the moonlight, the more it agitates people and awakens their inner beastly desires. This is why people initially wrapped themselves up when sleeping. It’s similar to how werewolves transform into uncontrollable giant wolves under the moonlight.”
“…Why is that?”
Arsen’s expression turned serious, as if he had thought of something.
“Because of the residual ‘beast’ essence.”
Surprisingly, it was the Shadow Heavenly Envoy who answered this question.
She let out a light chuckle and smoothed her dark red hair that cascaded down her back.
Eivass further explained, “The Moon God and the Beast God are two sides of the same coin. The opposite of the Path of Love is the Beast Path. The beasts that were tamed by love in the past were not completely purified… because ‘love’ gradually fades and deteriorates.
“A full moon not only drives people mad but also makes lovers fall in love or makes it easier to have offspring. This is an influence from the Path of Love.”
“…Is it for a similar reason that the Children of the Moon hunt during a full moon?”
Arsen seemed to realize something. “So that’s how it is…”
“Not entirely,” Eivass shook his head. “In alchemy, the metal representing the moon is silver. Therefore, silver is the ‘Bewitchment Dispelling of the Moon,’ which is why silver weapons can inflict sufficiently effective damage on Children of the Moon and werewolves. This is not only because silver has purifying properties but also because they were born from the moon. Although silver represents the moon, it signifies that the moon’s power is approaching equilibrium. That is, to smooth out the ‘excessive moon’…
“And the Moon Deer is a type of ‘beast’ related to ‘silver.’ Only practitioners of the Path of Love who sufficiently understand the mysteries of the moon can summon them. They are one of the most useful means of transport in the Dream Realm… even ‘one of’ can be removed.”
As Eivass was speaking, an extremely intense beam of moonlight suddenly struck before them—
The Shadow Realm was a lightless land with no sun or moon.
The pure moonlight descending upon this place at this moment even made Arsen instinctively cover his eyes.
When he lowered his hands, he saw a colossal creature that filled him with dread—
Just its “sitting position” was more than three meters above the ground, the giant deer.
It shone with a soft white moonlight all over its body. This radiance was suppressed to a thin layer in the Shadow Realm, but it made its jade-like body almost transparent.
—Yet, it did not seem to be entirely a deer.
Compared to a deer, its body was plumper and larger, while its limbs were too slender. It had the ears of a deer, but its face was somewhat wolf-like—it possessed very prominent, almost ferocious canine teeth and fangs, and like a wolf, it had vertical pupils, belonging to a hunter.
Arsen felt it was more like some kind of giant muntjac.
On its head, it had crescent-shaped antlers.
The material of its antlers was extremely peculiar—it was silver, as bright as a mirror.
Rather than two curved horns, it was more like two curved silver daggers plunged into its brain. However, considering its size, it would be more accurate to call them some kind of giant swords.
After landing, it lowered its head slightly, making it more convenient for Eivass and Arsen to climb up.
“Respected Child of the Candlemaster, where are we traveling to?”
The Moon Deer suddenly spoke, its voice sharp and piercing.
It was a voice like a clown’s, or like a jester’s.
“I…”
Arsen subconsciously uttered a syllable, then suddenly realized something and looked at Eivass for help.
“To the Mirror Hall,” Eivass replied without hesitation.
That was the place where the Twin Mirror, the Heavenly Envoy of Play, and the Heavenly Envoy of Song resided.
This was also why Eivass hadn’t asked the Boss, “If Sherlock is within the domain of the Path of Beauty, where specifically would he be?”—because within the Path of Beauty, apart from the somewhat unsociable Butterfly Heavenly Envoy, who possessed Adaptability to the Path and adaptability to the Path of Love, the other two Heavenly Envoys lived together with the Twin Mirror.
In other words, the domain of the Path of Beauty was essentially just one—the Mirror Hall.
However, upon hearing the destination, the Moon Deer did not set off.
It remained with its head lowered, motionless.
Eivass then nudged Arsen, who was sitting behind him, with his elbow.
“…What is this?”
Arsen was momentarily confused.
“The fare,” Eivass said with a smile. “Tell me a secret of yours. The more detailed, the more you wish no one else would hear it… the more hidden, the more shameful, the more sinful, the better.”
“…What? Why?”
Arsen’s eyes widened in disbelief, then he quickly understood. “This is the fare? Telling a secret?”
“Of course,” Eivass said righteously. “You wouldn’t want to hear my secrets, Arsen. Especially if a secret could embarrass me… I think you’d rather not hear it.”
…Indeed.
Arsen nodded in agreement internally.
If a problem could be solved with just a little shame, there was no need to strive desperately—even if Eivass was no longer the Pope, he was still a powerful Extraordinary who could defeat the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. From what he heard earlier, he even had to defeat the Blood Heavenly Envoy!
If he accidentally learned a secret hidden by such a major figure that could embarrass him…
Arsen could not help but shiver.
(End of this chapter)
